Abstract
BACKGROUND
Adoptive cell therapies (ACT) are strategies being explored to boost the immune response against cancer. ACT cancer immunotherapies are effective against metastatic melanoma, leukemia, and lymphoma, but face challenges in treating other solid tumors, such as in the brain. A critical step for the success of ACT in solid cancers is achieving trafficking and persistence of T-cells at tumor sites. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive cancer of the central nervous system in adults, with a prognosis of 15-18-month average patient survival after diagnosis. Biomedical imaging is often used to track cell therapies. Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a novel biomedical imaging modality enabling non-invasive visualization of the distribution of biocompatible superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) tracers.
OBJECTIVE
Label T-cells with SPIO to non-invasively track adoptive T cell transfer immunotherapy with MPI in the context of brain cancer.
METHODS
Murine pmel-DsRed T-cells were isolated from the spleen of a transgenic C57BL/6 mouse, and were exposed to different SPIO concentrations ex vivo. Cell viability, phenotype, and cytotoxic function were analyzed to determine if T-cells were affected by the SPIO labeling. Moreover, in vivo experiments were performed in a murine GBM model, and labeled T-cells were injected intravenously and tracked using MPI.
RESULTS
The SPIO-labeling of T-cells did not affected cell viability, phenotype, or cell cytotoxic function at all tested incubation conditions. The internalized SPIO can be quantified and spatially detected using MPI both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, MPI in vivo tracking shows T-cells accumulation in liver and lungs, as well in the spleen and brain, as showed ex vivo.
CONCLUSIONS
SPIO-labeling of T-cells did not affected its cytotoxic function and MPI allows for in vivo tracking of adoptively T-cell transfer. MPI will provide better understanding of ACT dynamics to accelerate development of novel treatments.
Non-invasive Reporter Gene Imaging of Cell Therapies, including T Cells and Stem Cells
